Cooling down on the real estate market soon? West Flanders has smallest price increase

Real estate activity in our country remained high, but there was a slight cooling in March. The average price of a house was still on the rise. That of an apartment seemed to stabilize, taking inflation into account, there was even a decrease. This is evident from the Real Estate Barometer of the Federation of Notaries (Fednot).

West Flanders smallest price increase

The average price of a house rose in all Flemish provinces in the first three months of the year. On average, you paid 343,308 euros for a house in our country, which is 6.8 percent more compared to 2021.

The price increase was smallest in our province: +4.4 percent. A house there cost an average of 306,487 euros. The cheapest province remains Limburg with 298,600 euros. Flemish Brabant is the most expensive, with an average price of 397,354 euros.

If we take inflation into account, there was a drop in prices in our province. Notary Bart van Opstal: “In real terms, there was a price drop in West Flanders of 2.1 percent. Buyers had to pay 6000 euros less for a house.”

Apartments cheaper

For a Belgian apartment, on the other hand, you paid an average of 253,690 euros in the first three months of this year: +1.1% compared to the annual average of 2021. But taking inflation into account, the real price of an apartment fell in all Flemish provinces.

We see the largest decrease in our province: -7.4 percent. That is also the only province where there was a slight decline before inflation: -0.9 percent to an average price of 285,665 euros.

In addition, it also appears that the price difference between an existing and a newly built apartment is becoming smaller.

Fewer houses sold

In the province, too, less real estate was sold in the first three months of 2022 (-1.6%). In all other Flemish provinces there are just more real estate transactions, in Limburg the number remains stable.

For the whole country, there were 2.2 percent more real estate transactions compared to the same period last year. January was the busiest month: +8.9 percent. In February, real estate activity was virtually stable. In March, a slight decline followed: -1.5 percent.

Notary Bart van Opstal: “The coming weeks and months will show whether this trend will continue. Consumer confidence took a huge hit in March anyway. And the high energy prices also shrink the available budget of buyers. In addition, interest rates are rising.”